Little Lag

Lag Generator with separate UP and DOWN controls

This is a very simple but useful little module to introduce 'smoothness' to CVs and audio waveforms. It doesn't just have the usual single 'lag time' pot that some simple filters and lag generators possess, but two separate UP and DOWN controls. The UP control will affect the speed at which the output voltage of the module rises. The DOWN control affects the speed at which it falls. You can do a variety of signal processing tasks with this module. For example:
1. Drive the unit with a gate signal and the module becomes an effective AR envelope generator. The UP control is the attack, and the DOWN is the release.
2. Use it also to process the output of an envelope follower to create more natural filter sweeps when used with a VCF. You can use it to simulate ‘vactrol’ or opto-electronic devices.
A panel design for the Oakley ‘Envelope Follower and Gate extractor’ (EFG) has incorporated the Little-Lag to create the EFG-Deluxe module. More details about this are found in the EFG User Guide.
An optional switch determines whether the unit creates linear or logarithmic output slopes. The logarithmic output allows for longish times of lag to be set up easily, roughly 8 seconds maximum lag time. The output moves quickly at first then slows to reach the final value. You get a more natural effect when using this mode. However, the disadvantage is that the unit is not sufficiently accurate to use for portamento applications in ‘log’ mode.
In linear mode, the output rises or falls in a straight line. It is classified in volts per second, as opposed to just time. The amount of time it takes depends on the pots positions AND the voltage change on the input. Generally, for small changes in voltage the linear output will appear to move quicker than its ‘log’ equivalent. The linear mode is very accurate and can be used to create linear portamento.